


do not stand at my grave and weep

by wlwrwby



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Based On Poetry, Horror-esque, Hurt No Comfort, if this happens in canon i will simply cease to exist, no beta we die like redheads in rwby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29144364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wlwrwby/pseuds/wlwrwby
Summary: (i am not there. i do not sleep.)Summer Rose was pronounced dead when she failed to return from a mission.If only it were that simple.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 52





	do not stand at my grave and weep

_Do not stand at my grave and weep_

_I am not there. I do not sleep._

The story goes like this. 

Summer Rose left in the middle of the night, alone, leaving only a vague note behind as to her whereabouts and intentions. It said that she was going to end it. The last people to see her alive were her husband and daughters, who she’d all bid goodnight to like nothing was amiss. 

She was never seen again. 

There was no body. 

Never, in a million years, would Summer Rose leave her family behind and not expect to return. So when she never returned home, the only explanation was her demise. So they buried a memory and sealed it with a headstone. 

And that was the end of the story as we know it. 

But it doesn’t end there. 

(It never had.) 

* * *

_I am a thousand winds that blow._

Raven Branwen knew Summer Rose was dead. She had confirmed it herself when she tried to open her teammate’s portal once she had heard that she had gone on that stupid, reckless mission. A suicide mission, really. 

The portal to Summer had never opened. It refused. And to Raven, who had hoped more than anything that her old friend was still alive, that meant she was dead. Raven was a realist. She always had been. And if the portal didn’t open, then surely it meant Summer was gone for good. 

Then came Vernal. Then came Vernal, who eventually got a portal of her own. Vernal, who died for her. 

And something inside of Raven breaks. She had thought it was impossible - to be broken even more than she already was. But this loss, this _hurt_ , was unlike anything she had ever felt. The moment Vernal stopped breathing, it was as if a piece of her died with her. It wasn’t just emotional pain - no, it was physical. Something inside her had changed. This was different. 

This had never happened before, not even when Summer - 

No. 

_No._

It was impossible, right? She was dead. She had been for some time. She was gone. 

...Right? 

As soon as Raven portaled to Tai, she took a moment to collect herself in the surrounding woods. She had to make sure. If she was right...if she was right, everything would change. 

Gently, ever so gently, as if approaching a wild Grimm, Raven reached for her bond with Vernal. 

...Only to find that the portal no longer existed. 

Raven’s breath suddenly came in short gasps as she shook her head, trying to rid the hope and rising terror inside of her to no avail. Quickly, so she couldn’t convince herself not to, she reached for Summer’s portal, left untouched for years upon years. 

It was still there. 

Summer’s portal was there. 

She was _alive._

And they had left her to suffer this entire time. 

* * *

_I am the diamond glints on snow._

One of Summer’s beloved capes was carefully tucked away in the attic. They had once resided in her and Tai’s closet, but Qrow had relocated them once he saw that Tai wasn’t able to take a single look at them before breaking even more. 

Tai hadn’t looked at them for over ten years. 

Until now. 

Ruby had left. Just like her mother, note and all. 

Make no mistake, Tai had always known his youngest daughter would follow in her mother’s footsteps. From the moment she opened those silver eyes, her fate depended on whether or not the adults meant to protect her from all evil would be able to end the war. And the minute they failed, the second Summer made her decision, Ruby’s fate was decided. He knew that one day she would leave to fight for the world, but not at _sixteen._

He never thought it’d be so soon. He knew all too well that evil didn’t wait for its enemies to be ready. But just this once, he had prayed that the world would make an exception for one so young. The Gods were cruel, he knew. He had known for a long time. But it didn’t make it any easier. Nothing would heal this pain in his heart. 

He never thought it would be like this, Beacon destroyed, his oldest daughter downstairs missing a limb that she lost in the battle and mourning the loss and absence of so much, his youngest off to fight a war that should have been won centuries ago, a war that never should have been. 

There he sat in the attic, Summer’s white cape clutched to his chest. In a minute, he would have to go back to being strong for Yang. He couldn’t leave her in her grief like he had when Summer didn’t come back. He was a father, and he was intent to finally fill that role. 

But for now, he didn’t have to be strong. There in the attic, his face buried in Summer’s cape that somehow still harbored her scent, he allowed himself to break. He cried for all he had lost and all that he would soon lose. He cried for lives lost and children taken too young and those who had left. 

His tears fell and glistened on white fabric. 

It almost looked like snow. 

* * *

_I am the sunlight on ripened grain._

Yang was often described as sunshine incarnate. Raven and Tai had cradled her as a newborn, content to stare at this impossibly small human that somehow held so much strength in that tiny fist. She seemed to never stop smiling and laughing. Even when Raven left, she smiled. She still effortlessly lit up their lives. 

Even now, battle-hardened and shoulders burdened with the weight of the world, her smile shone just as bright. 

Qrow had once told her she had her mother’s smile. 

And it was true. Summer’s smile had been just as strong. 

Like mother, like daughter. 

* * *

_I am the gentle autumn rain._

During Summer’s funeral, it hadn’t rained. The sky had been mockingly clear, the sun shining as brightly as if it was any ordinary day. 

Everyone made up for the lack of rain with their own tears. 

There was no body. She had gone to Salem’s realm, a place no one dared tread if they wanted to make it back alive. So they dug an empty grave and buried a ghost. The rays of the sun refused to dimmen. 

It was almost as if the heavens had refused to mourn Summer Rose. 

It was almost as if it was trying to tell them something. 

It was almost as if she wasn’t truly gone. 

* * *

_When you awaken in the morning's hush_

One of the few constants in Ruby’s life were nightmares. 

They had begun when Summer was declared dead and hadn’t stopped since. She would dream of her mother and what might have happened in her final moments, of Pyrrha and Penny, of Salem, of Tyrian, of those she loved dying and not being able to stop it. 

She had an incredible burden on her shoulders that even the fiercest of men would break under. But she was stronger than any man. Despite it all, she kept fighting. She kept fighting in fear of what would happen if she stopped. 

So when sleep would come to fail her, Ruby would wake in the early morning and watch the sunrise. She would watch the world awaken and admire its beauty. 

And when it was done, she would stand once more, get up, and fight another day. 

* * *

_I am the swift uplifting rush_

Ruby’s earliest memory was of Summer standing on the cliffside that would once house her grave, the sunset bathing her in a warm embrace as she turned to face her daughter and invite her to her side. She remembered the wind gently blowing and sweeping through her hair as she ran to her mother’s side.   
  
Summer had knelt next to her and directed her daughter to the soft colors of the sunset. 

“You see that, Ruby?” she had said. 

A tiny Ruby nodded, her silver eyes alight in anticipation for what her mother was going to say next. 

Summer had smiled and said, “I want you to remember something, Ruby. No matter who you meet, no matter who they may be, we all see the same sunset. We all have that in common.” She had looked back to Ruby as she said, “And every single life is precious, my love. You and me and everyone you will meet. Remember that.” 

And then mother and daughter had sat together, legs dangling off the cliffside, and watched the sun set with the rest of Remnant. In that moment, the world was soft. In that moment, everyone, no matter what side of the war they were on, was connected by something as simple as the setting of the sun. 

* * *

_Of quiet birds in circled flight_. 

“No, Raven. There’s no way.” 

Tai paced in the living room while Raven sat on the couch, both tense. She stared at him, unmoving. 

“I’m not lying, Tai. This isn’t a joke.” She sighed and her red eyes filled with emotion. If you looked close enough, it might be identified as regret. “Even after all I’ve done, I would never joke about her.” 

He stopped pacing and as his entire body seemed to deflate. He looked older than Raven had ever seen him. He was tired. So, so tired. 

Slowly, he knelt in front of Raven and shook his head. 

“It’s impossible.” 

“Tai, in a world where magic is real, the impossible happens every day.” For the first time in years, she reached for his hand and held it in her own, her grip strong and firm. “ _Tai._ She’s alive. She has to be.” 

The huntsman knelt his head to hide the sudden tears. More than anything, he wanted his wife to be alive. He wanted her to be alive and in his arms again, he wanted to see that smile he would die for again and again. But if she was alive… 

“Rae.” His voice was thick with unshed tears. “If she’s alive, what happened to her? What did she do to her?” 

Raven could only stare back, her own tears coming to the surface as both of their minds swam with possibilities, each one worse than the last.   
  
“I don’t know. And I’m scared.” She stood, bringing Tai with her, their hands still interlocked. “But I know that that fear is _nothing_ to what she’s been through all this time.” 

She blinked and her eyes were suddenly aflame. 

“I’m not running, Tai. Not this time.” 

* * *

_I am the soft stars that shine at night._

The stars shone through the crater in the roof that the Hound had burst through, illuminating the corridors of Schnee Manor in a silver light. Ruby drew Crescent Rose, Blake and Weiss following her lead. The three of them stared down the Grimm from their position guarding the door that led to an incapacitated Nora and Penny. They were their friend’s last line of defense and weren’t about to give up any time soon. 

Then, as if the past few days hadn’t been unbelievable enough, the Grimm opened its mouth and spoke a single word that turned their blood cold. 

_“M a i d e n.”_

Weiss said what they were all thinking. “Did that thing just talk?” Her voice shook as she pointed Myrtenaster at the monster, her teammates shaking but still standing their ground. 

Ruby was exhausted. Two of her friends were on the brink of death, half of her team was missing, her uncle was in jail, the military was against them, Salem was on their doorstep, and there was no way help would arrive in time. 

So, yes, she was beyond exhausted. But she was a leader and she was one of the few things between the Grimm that could apparently talk and her friends who currently could not defend themselves. She had a power for a reason. So she used it. 

She thought of her desire to protect Blake and Weiss fighting at her side, to defend Nora and Penny and their caretakers on the other side of the wall. She thought of her mother’s words all those years ago on that cliffside. She thought of her mother tucking her in at night and Yang’s hugs where nothing could hurt her, of Blake’s soft hands ruffling her hair, of Weiss’s hand in her own. 

She opened her eyes to reveal wings that took flight and cast the room in a blinding light. The Grimm _screamed_ , and as the white light faded, all the Huntresses could think was that it sounded _human._

To their surprise, the Grimm still stood. Though it was not whole. As Ruby readied her scythe, about to finish the job, something from inside of it moved. She stopped mid-swing as her eyes widened in horror, barely registering Blake and Weiss taking her by an arm to drag her back as a cold sense of dread washed over her. 

Through the overwhelming darkness of Grimm, a hand emerged. Then, a voice spoke, distorted and hoarse with years of neglect. 

_“R u b y…”_

The world seemed to stop. Ruby’s breath stopped in her throat as she struggled to convince herself that whatever this was, it wasn’t real. It was a cruel trick. But Blake and Weiss had that same look of horror, and she knew without certainty that this was real. 

Ruby knew that moment would haunt her for the rest of her life, however short that was looking to be. Because somehow, that was her mother’s voice. That was her mother’s hand reaching to her, the same hand that had tucked her in each night. 

That Grimm was her mother. 

Summer Rose was alive. 

And she had been living a fate far, far worse than death. 

_Do not stand at my grave and cry;_

**_I am not there._**

**_I did not die._**

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! This story uses the poem by Mary Elizabeth Fyre, commonly referred to as the same title of this fic since there was no official name. The Summer is the Hound theory intrigues me so much with its ties to Red Riding Hood and the big bad wolf, and all of the other possibilities. It's terrifying and incredibly dark, and it wouldn't surprise me if RWBY did something like this. It would traumatize me, sure, but damn it'd be cool.  
> Anyways, thanks so much for reading! If you want, let me know your thoughts below. You can follow me on twitter @wlwrwby for more rwby content and ramblings.   
> Thanks again for reading! I hope you have a lovely, lovely day<3


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